How to get involved in Long Beach neighborhood safety

LONG BEACH -- Police, city leaders and residents and businesses agree that a strong community is crucial to a city's success.

What isn't as obvious is how to create and sustain that sense of community, many note.

"It's an incredibly complex problem," said 4th District Councilman Patrick O'Donnell. "If there was a simple list of steps to follow, I would be happy to do it."

While there is no clearly outlined plan, there are certain things that O'Donnell and his colleagues in the city say do work. Largely, residents and businesses much be personally invested in their neighborhoods and have a sense of pride.

That doesn't just mean money, as much as some might think -- it means taking the time and making the effort to know what's going on in your neighborhood and doing whatever you can to make sure crime and other nuisance issues don't take a foothold.

"It's the broken windows theory," O'Donnell said. "You have to address issues like trash, graffiti, the small things, before they turn into bigger things."

Residents who might feel at a loss on how to get involved in their community have plenty of help, Deputy Chief Robert Luna and city leaders vow.

The Long Beach Police Department regularly sends officers and other staff to community watch, neighborhood association and business association meetings throughout the city. Crime tips and current trends are shared and can be found on the police department's website www.http://www.longbeach.gov/police.

If residents or businesses want to create a community watch program in their area, all they have to do is talk to the patrol resource officer assigned to their division, Luna said.

Similarly, if a neighborhood or a business wants to find out if they have a neighborhood association, they can check out the city's 2012 List of Neighborhood Groups, which details 174 neighborhood, historic and other associations and provides their locations in an online map with links to the groups' contact and meeting information.

The list can also be mailed to residents by calling the city's Neighborhood Resource Center at 562-570-1010.